Last week-end I gave a talk at the Rencontres du Ciel et de l’Espace (RCE) at Cité des sciences et de l’industrie in Paris, about Venus. The planet will be easily observable for northern amateurs in 2015, do not miss it!
The concept of color is often discussed among observers. The purpose of this article is not to debate about the concept of realism, but to describe and discuss the use of three ways to use color for planetary images : “true” colors, “false” colors, and colorized monochrome images…
Participating to scientific work when you’re an amateur observer, is that possible? Answer is yes! I have talked about it on several occasions on this blog, and here is a must-read on the topic if you’d like to get into that.
The most noticeable observation of Mars in the last 2012 season has been the imagery of what is generally interpretated as a cloud of very high altitude, because it was projecting well beyond the terminator into the night. Those phenomena look to happen regularly and many have been found on…
On March 8/9th, I had the honor and pleasure to participate to a planetary mission at the 1-meter telescope of the Pic du Midi (T1M) lead by Marc Delcroix, President of the SAF planetary observations commission. Here is a summary! The T1M of the Pic du Midi observatory is a…
After the article, “What can we see on Mars this year” let’s now review some technical advices.
Mars will be at opposition again on April 8th, 2014. Here are some phenomena you must look for!
Many instruments can be used to image planets. This week I’m portraying observer Yann Le Gall, who is making splendid images with large dobsonian on an equatorial platform !
After the first part where we learned how to get started with WinJupos’ephemeris, here is the second part where we’re going to learn how to set the graphic simulation, which is one the best tools!
Since a few weeks, a curious pattern of white spots is evolving in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter, with a clear look-alike of the Mickey’s head. I have been able to image it last 22nd January; what is it exactly?